Weeds and Pest Management

Weeds and pests are a constant challenge on your farm in Starsand Island. Left unchecked, they pause crop growth and can add hours of delay to your harvest schedule. Fortunately, the game provides a natural pest control system through your ranch animals: rabbits eat weeds, chickens eat bugs, and ducks eat snails. Understanding how each pest type works and which animals counter them is key to running an efficient farm, especially once you scale beyond a few plots.

Types of Pests

There are three distinct pest categories in Starsand Island, each affecting a different type of crop:

All three pest types halt the growth timer of affected crops until they are removed. Each weed delays growth by approximately 5 minutes, and multiple pests can stack throughout the day, compounding the delay significantly. On rainy days, weeds spawn more aggressively, making pest management especially important during wet weather.

Pests appear throughout the day, not just overnight. If weeds or bugs are present when you go to sleep and remain uncleared, the affected crops lose that growth time entirely. Players have reported that unmanaged pests can delay crop maturity by two hours or more over a single day.

Animal Pest Control

The primary pest management method is raising animals that eat specific pests. Each animal type targets one pest category. Animals are purchased from Pastelle at Green Pasture Ranch and must be housed in the appropriate enclosure before they begin working.

Rabbits (Weed Control)

Rabbits are the earliest farm helper you can access, available at Beginner Rancher tier (the first ranching level). They automatically patrol your farm plots and eat weeds they encounter.

The Luna Rabbit is three times more effective than standard variants, clearing up to 15 weeds per day. If you are lucky enough to acquire one through breeding, it can handle weed control for a medium-sized farm on its own. For larger farms, you will want multiple rabbits working together. Eight standard rabbits can theoretically clear up to 40 weeds per day.

Chickens (Bug Control)

Chickens eat the bugs and insects that attack trellis crops (vine crops). They unlock at Junior Rancher tier.

The Golden Chicken mirrors the Luna Rabbit's enhanced effectiveness, clearing up to 15 bugs daily. Golden Chickens also lay Gold-quality eggs by default, making them doubly valuable. If you grow a lot of trellis crops (cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, grapes), invest in multiple chickens to keep your vines pest-free.

Ducks (Snail Control)

Ducks eat the snails that appear in rice paddy fields. They also unlock at Junior Rancher tier.

Unlike rabbits and chickens, no duck variant clears more than 5 snails per day. Even the Super Rare Glazed Duck has the same clearing capacity as a common duck. If you maintain large rice paddies, you will need several ducks to keep snail populations under control. This mechanic mirrors real-world integrated rice-duck farming practices used across Asia.

Animal Limitations

All pest-clearing animals share the same operational restrictions:

• No work during rain. Animals stay sheltered when it rains, leaving pest management to you on wet days.

• No work at night. Animals only clear pests during daytime hours.

• No work while resting. Unhappy or exhausted animals may rest instead of patrolling.

• Pathing dependent. Animals wander semi-randomly and may not reach every weed or pest. Effectiveness depends on whether the animal happens to walk near the affected crop.

Because animals cannot work during rain (when weeds spawn most aggressively), you should plan for manual pest removal on rainy days.

Manual Pest Removal

You can always remove pests by hand, which is necessary when your animals are unavailable or your farm is larger than they can handle:

The Charged Machete technique is the fastest manual method. The frontal AoE clears multiple weeds in a single swing and can also harvest mature crops at the same time, making it an efficient two-in-one action during morning farm rounds.

There are no pesticide items in the game. The pest control system relies entirely on animals, scarecrows, and manual removal.

Breeding for Better Pest Control

The breeding system lets you enhance your animals' pest-clearing ability through DNA traits. The most important trait for pest management is:

Workaholic is widely considered the best DNA trait for pest-clearing animals. A Workaholic rabbit, chicken, or duck clears pests more frequently throughout the day, effectively multiplying its daily capacity. When both parents carry the Workaholic trait, offspring have a 90% chance of inheriting it. Focus your breeding program on passing Workaholic to all pest-clearing animals for maximum farm efficiency.

Avoid passing on negative traits like Pride, Petiteness, and Bloom, which reduce animal effectiveness. Cull these from your breeding stock early.

Bumblebees as a Complementary Strategy

While not pest control animals, bumblebees provide a powerful complementary strategy. Unlocked at Intermediate Rancher tier (400 to 650 Coins), bumblebees placed in beehives near crops provide a significant crop growth speed boost. They operate from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM and produce honey as a bonus.

Bumblebees do not remove pests, but their growth acceleration can partially offset the delays caused by weeds and bugs. Some players report that bumblebee-boosted crops can reach harvest three to four times per day, making minor pest delays less impactful on your overall yield.

Recommended Farm Setup

For a well-managed farm at mid-game and beyond, aim for the following animal roster:

Breed all pest-clearing animals for the Workaholic trait to maximize their daily clearing capacity. On rainy days, supplement with manual weed removal using the Charged Machete technique. Place scarecrows near trellis crops for additional bug protection. This combination keeps your farm running smoothly even at large scale.

Tips

• Morning routine matters. Check your farm for pests first thing in the morning before watering. Clear any overnight weeds or bugs immediately to avoid losing growth time.

• Rainy days require manual effort. Since animals do not work in the rain and weeds spawn more heavily, plan to spend extra time on weed removal during wet weather.

• Scale animals with your farm. As you expand through the Buy Land app, add more pest-clearing animals to match your increased plot count.

• Keep animals happy. Unhappy animals rest instead of working. Feed them daily, brush them regularly, and invest in the Optimism DNA trait through breeding.

• Don't ignore rice paddies. Since no duck variant has enhanced clearing, rice paddies require more ducks per plot than standard farms need rabbits. Plan accordingly if rice is a major part of your crop rotation.